The Benefits of Delayed Cord Clamping Explained by Penny Simkin [Video]
ceridwen
|
Maybe it's not such a good idea to clamp the cord right away.
More and more of my childbirth education students have been asking about delayed cord clamping. Over the last year or so there have been a few articles and studies suggesting it’s better for the baby to let the blood pulse from the placenta for at least a couple minutes after birth, rather than cut the cord instantly as is common practice.
I thought the following video was a nice, simple explanation of why it can be beneficial to let the placental blood flow a little longer.
The basic idea is that the baby is being deprived a significant last blast of iron and oxygen-rich blood. As far as I can tell from reading the literature on the subject the one downside to delaying the cord clamping for more than a couple of minutes is that there’s a slight increase in newborn jaundice– which can be treated by photo-therapy–but likely at such a low level as to not be considered an issue.
Here’s the lowdown from educator, author and childbirth guru Penny Simkin:
The systematic review Simkin refers to in the video was published in the Journal Of The American Medical Association (JAMA) and concludes,
“Delaying clamping of the umbilical cord in full-term neonates for a minimum of 2 minutes following birth is beneficial to the newborn, extending into infancy. Although there was an increase in polycythemia among infants in whom cord clamping was delayed, this condition appeared to be benign.”
If you’re interested in delayed the cord clamping, talk to your care-provider in advance. It may become more common for care providers to postpone clamping, but for now, this would be an exception to standard practice and something you’d likely need to bring up yourself.
(PS, I’m digging Penny Simkin as the Julia Child of childbirth ed videos with the reading glasses, the work table and the decanting of blood through a little kitchen funnel. It’s totally working for me.)
![Ad Features a Rather Ugly Baby [VIDEO]](http://cdn2.www.babble.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/direct-tv-weird-baby-100x100.jpg "Ad Features a Rather Ugly Baby [VIDEO]")
Thanks for sharing this!!!!
Thanks for sharing! We have delayed cord clamping with all of four our babies. None have ever been jaundiced, and although we do not start solids or any iron supplementation until close to 12 months, none have ever had iron deficiency. I have to believe that this is due to a healthy diet during pregnancy, but also all of the iron rich blood that they receive from the placenta, post birth.
There are so many reasons to do this apart from the iron stores! If you are pregnant I strongly urge you to google delayed cord clamping, and tell your care givers that that is what you want .( bellybelly.com.au has a reall good article0
And for all of us other poor unfortunate mothers that end up with unwanted but desperately needed c-sections, we don’t get that option. Can you imagine a doctor letting us lay there cut open for 2 whole minutes….. maybe if delayed cord clamping is such a benefit, this guru or some doctor can figure out how us c-section moms can have this choice.
I’ve recently heard about this and will be bringing this up at my next appt. I will include this in my birth plan and hope that if baby and I don’t have any complications, we can delay the cord clamping.
When my son was born he looked like a lobster. My midwife (who I adore) cut the cord after it stopped pulsating. My son subsequently received a large dose of red blood cells. I also gave birth on all 4′s (the way nature intended) and my son came out “below” me which added to his load of red blood cells. We were rushed to the emergency room when we went in for help with feeding on his 2nd day. He was very jaundiced and spent a week in the NICU under the lights. Bilirubin (the by-product of red blood cell breakdown) can cause a newborn to be extra sleepy. The best way to clear the bilirubin is to get the baby to poop. This, of course, depends on the infant being awake enough to feed. My son was so jaundiced that it caused him to be too lethargic to feed. His bilirubin was 27 (normal is 2-14 and 27 is very high). I still consider cutting the cord until it stops pulsating to be the way nature intended. Just be aware that there are risks if you decide to do this. As a Naturopathic phyiscian, educated at an accredited medical school, I feel that everyone should know the benefits and risks of all procedures.
You can have delayed cord clamping with a ceserean. There is a great video from the UK on gentle cesereans, you can google it and watch. It is amazing!
Babies born with jaundice are usually premature, had drugs in their system or had other problems. It is not a symptom of delayed cord clamping. The natural process of bilirubin is to develope day 2-4 after birth. Most likely, your baby would have had the problem if cord had been clamped immediately as well.
The baby continues to return waste to the mother as the cord pulses as well, leaving less for their immature livers to deal with. Another great benefit.
Just to clarify on the comment above, I am a Neonatal Nurse and delayed clamping can cause jaundice. Drugs in the system are actually not a big risk factor. It comes from the breakdown of red blood cells and the babies decreased ability to bind them to albumin and process them in the liver. Many babies with delayed cord cutting would likely not have an issue, but anything that leads to additional breakdown of red blood cells (such as extra blood from delayed cord clamping), would be considered a “risk factor.” Other risk factors includes if the mom and baby have different blood blood type, or if they have different Rh (coombs positive), as well as an injuries or trauma such as a cephalohematoma from the birth. Additionally, certain races have higher risk factor for unclear reasons, Asians, Hispanic and Mediterranean can all increase risk, as well as if you had an earlier baby with jaundice. If left untreated it is extremely serious, so just be sure you are aware and have the baby checked the first few days after birth. As with most medical options, whether or not it is for you is usually a balance weighing out the benefits and risks, and extra iron store can certainly be a wonderful benefit!